XML for Node

Fast and simple Javascript-based XML generator/builder for Node projects.

Install

$ npm install xml

API

xml(xmlObject, options)

Returns a XML string.

var xml = require('xml');
var xmlString = xml(xmlObject, options);

xmlObject

xmlObject is a normal JavaScript Object/JSON object that defines the data for the XML string.

Keys will become tag names. Values can be an array of xmlObjects or a value such as a string or number.

xml({a: 1})) === '<a>1</a>'
xml({nested: [{ keys: [{ fun: 'hi' }]}]}) === '<nested><keys><fun>hi</fun></keys></nested>'

There are two special keys:

_attr

Set attributes using a hash of key/value pairs.

xml({a: [{ _attr: { attributes: 'are fun', too: '!' }}, 1]}) === '<a attributes="are fun" too="!">1</a>'

_cdata

Value of _cdata is wrapped in xml ![CDATA[]] so the data does not need to be escaped.

xml({a: { _cdata: "i'm not escaped: <xml>!"}}) === '<a><![CDATA[i\'m not escaped: <xml>!]]></a>'

Mixed together:

xml({a: { _attr: { attr:'hi'}, _cdata: "I'm not escaped" }}) === '<a attr="hi"><![CDATA[I\'m not escaped]]></a>'

options

indent optional string What to use as a tab. Defaults to no tabs (compressed). For example you can use '\t' for tab character, or ' ' for two-space tabs.

stream Return the result as a stream.

Stream Example

var elem = xml.element({ _attr: { decade: '80s', locale: 'US'} });
var stream = xml({ toys: elem }, { stream: true });
stream.on('data', function (chunk) {console.log("data:", chunk)});
elem.push({ toy: 'Transformers' });
elem.push({ toy: 'GI Joe' });
elem.push({ toy: [{name:'He-man'}] });
elem.close();

/*
result:
data: <toys decade="80s" locale="US">
data:     <toy>Transformers</toy>
data:     <toy>GI Joe</toy>
data:     <toy>
            <name>He-man</name>
          </toy>
data: </toys>
*/

Declaration optional Add default xml declaration as first node.

options are:

• encoding: 'value'
• standalone: 'value'

Declaration Example

xml([ { a: 'test' }], { declaration: true })
//result: '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><a>test</a>'

xml([ { a: 'test' }], { declaration: { standalone: 'yes', encoding: 'UTF-16' }})
//result: '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-16" standalone="yes"?><a>test</a>'

Examples

Simple Example

var example1 = [ { url: 'http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=opower' } ];
console.log(XML(example1));
//<url>http://www.google.com/search?aq=f&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;q=opower</url>

Example with attributes

var example2 = [ { url: { _attr: { hostname: 'www.google.com', path: '/search?aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=opower' }  } } ];
console.log(XML(example2));
//result: <url hostname="www.google.com" path="/search?aq=f&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8&amp;q=opower"/>

Example with array of same-named elements and nice formatting

var example3 = [ { toys: [ { toy: 'Transformers' } , { toy: 'GI Joe' }, { toy: 'He-man' } ] } ];
console.log(XML(example3));
//result: <toys><toy>Transformers</toy><toy>GI Joe</toy><toy>He-man</toy></toys>
console.log(XML(example3, true));
/*
result:
<toys>
    <toy>Transformers</toy>
    <toy>GI Joe</toy>
    <toy>He-man</toy>
</toys>
*/

More complex example

var example4 = [ { toys: [ { _attr: { decade: '80s', locale: 'US'} }, { toy: 'Transformers' } , { toy: 'GI Joe' }, { toy: 'He-man' } ] } ];
console.log(XML(example4, true));
/*
result:
<toys decade="80s" locale="US">
    <toy>Transformers</toy>
    <toy>GI Joe</toy>
    <toy>He-man</toy>
</toys>
*/

Even more complex example

var example5 = [ { toys: [ { _attr: { decade: '80s', locale: 'US'} }, { toy: 'Transformers' } , { toy: [ { _attr: { knowing: 'half the battle' } }, 'GI Joe'] }, { toy: [ { name: 'He-man' }, { description: { _cdata: '<strong>Master of the Universe!</strong>'} } ] } ] } ];
console.log(XML(example5, true));
/*
result:
<toys decade="80s" locale="US">
    <toy>Transformers</toy>
    <toy knowing="half the battle">
        GI Joe
    </toy>
    <toy>
        <name>He-man</name>
        <description><![CDATA[<strong>Master of the Universe!</strong>]]></description>
    </toy>
</toys>
*/

Tests

Tests included use Mocha. Use npm test to run the tests.

$ npm test

Examples

There are examples in the examples directory.

Contributing

Contributions to the project are welcome. Feel free to fork and improve. I accept pull requests and issues, especially when tests are included.

License

(The MIT License)

Copyright (c) 2011-2013 Dylan Greene dylang@gmail.com

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.